Murray Cohen's death won't be investigated again

His son is convinced the 2003 death was murder, and the investigation botched, but state says evidence isn't sufficient

By ELIZABETH JOHNSON

Despite continuous urging from the son of the late Murray Cohen, the State Attorney's Office has decided not to pursue further investigation into the death of the 71-year-old Siesta Key resident.

After receiving little or no response from three Florida governors and law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels, Steve Esdale received a glimmer of hope a decade after his father's death when a private investigator affirmed Esdale's beliefs that Cohen may have been the victim of murder, and not natural death, at his home on Siesta Key.

James M. Casey, a former FBI agent hired by Esdale's attorney, completed a 48-page investigation, released in January, which found "sufficient probable cause to believe Maria A. Cohen is responsible for the death of Murray B. Cohen."

But that was not enough to convince Karen Fraivillig, chief homicide prosecutor in Sarasota County, to send the case to a judge.

"There is inadequate evidence to support a finding of probable cause that the death of Murray Cohen can be attributed to criminal action," Fraivillig writes in a letter to Esdale, dated July 10. "In light of the dearth of evidence to sustain the minimal legal standard of probable cause, it would be impossible for the State to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that your father died of anything other than natural causes."

Murray Cohen married Maria Amurrio in Bolivia three weeks before he died on Jan. 13, 2003.

The office of the 12th Judicial Circuit Medical Examiner ruled the death natural without completing an autopsy and sent the body to a funeral home where it was embalmed.

Cohen, who retired as an executive with a freight carrier company, had a history of heart problems. The case was never formally sent to the State Attorney's Office because of a lack of evidence collected by the sheriff's office proving a criminal act.

The sheriff's office declined to comment on the case.

Esdale, who lives in Weston, continued to seek an investigation.

"I'm never going to stop fighting for justice because the day I do is the day they win," said Esdale, who says he is waiting to hear back from the White House. "One day I'm going to win."

Raising questions

Through analysis of various reports, Esdale raised several questions of suspicious circumstances that have gone unanswered for years: Why was Corazol, a drug unregulated in the United States, in his father's home? Who is the man speaking in the background of a 911 call Amurrio made? Casey, hired by Esdale's pro bono attorney, reviewed those same reports and evidence, coming to a conclusion similar to those of Esdale's: detectives botched the investigation.

"Every one of the critical facts ... were developed as a direct result of Mr. Esdale's tenacity," Casey states. "He refused to accept the non-investigation that initially glossed over Mr. Cohen's death, and he was similarly critical of the incomplete investigations that followed."

In his response to Fraivillig, dated July 25, Esdale brings up even more questions -- 40 of them in four pages.

He ends with a question: "How many innocent people have you knowingly prosecuted and put in jail just because you did not want to admit you were wrong?"

Early on, Esdale conspired that his father's murder was covered up by local and state law enforcement, media outlets and politicians.

"The Sarasota sheriff's department made a mistake and then thought they'd get away with it," Esdale said. "They underestimated Steve Esdale."

Esdale alleges that Amurrio poisoned her husband with the drug, called 911 to report she found him unresponsive after a nap, then suffocated him seconds before EMS arrived -- all in an effort to obtain his $1.3 million estate.

Amurrio could not be reached for comment. The number listed in her name has been disconnected.

Casey recommended that prosecutors request a coroner's inquest in which additional tests would be completed.

"Mr. Casey's investigation has a lot of unanswered questions. I'm not sure if those questions can ever be answered," said Fraivillig as she was reviewing evidence from the sheriff's office.

Esdale had hoped that prosecutors would bring the case before a circuit judge who would have decided the extent of the review, ranging from testing Cohen's hair and fluid samples that are stored at the medical examiner's office or requesting New Jersey officials to exhume the man's body.

"If conditions have remained favorable, it is possible the body could be in fairly good condition with identifiable organs, soft tissues and organ tissue. Or there may be nothing but skeletal remains," said Dr. Russell Vega, 12th judicial circuit medical examiner. "The only way to know that is to exhume the body."

Year of fighting

With nothing more than countless rejections and unanswered pleas for help, Esdale, who works as a home repairman, finds himself in extreme debt after years of fighting.

Esdale and his brother were to split ownership of Cohen's home.

But the court granted Amurrio possession of Esdale's portion. Records show she still co-owns that property with Esdale's brother.

Esdale's son, who never received more than $300,000 directed to him in Cohen's will, must take a year off from school and work to keep up with his student loans.

Amurrio, appointed in court as personal representative of Cohen's life estate, took control of the finances, trumping his will.

That ongoing stress and Esdale's feelings of frustration led to questionable actions in which he harassed sheriff's office employees.

Esdale said he has "matured in my torture," and realizes, through Casey's report, that those actions created unnecessary barriers.

"I made it easy for them to ignore the issue, ignore me," Esdale said. "I understand my mistake, but I also understand I'm a human being. I wish I did things differently, but my actions did not cause their cover-up mentality of not wanting to admit they made a big mistake.

"I have to get the job done. I'm never going to stop fighting until my last breath."

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